<div dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt" id="m_-7748259024540476679gmail-docs-internal-guid-c188ee25-7fff-7f4f-0bf2-3789a38bb308"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Hi Olivier (and others) - thank you for your questions. I attempt to clarify some aspects of your questions below, but I will note that discussion and revision of the CoI policy was before I joined the board - so I can’t speak to the history, only the current state. Other Trustees may have additional, or different, thoughts to add. I hope that this is helpful.</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">On Thu, Nov 05, 2020 at 05:39:17PM +0100, Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond via Chapter-delegates wrote:</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>Dear Heather,</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">></span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>thank you for your kind message and thank you for raising the issue of</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>Conflict of Interest Policy with Chapters. This email is meant to share</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>my personal comments regarding the policy as it currently stands and to</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>question how this was established.</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">></span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>First, how it was established. From your email, it appears that this</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>conflict of interest policy was adopted unanimously by the Board of</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>Trustees earlier this year - without any formal input from the very</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>people affected by the policy, that is the three communities from which</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>candidates on the Board of Trustees are drawn.</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Conflict of Interest policy (CoI policy) is a Board policy that governs the members of the Board of Trustees, not the chapters or other communities. As mentioned, the CoI policy was revised earlier this year; Andrew linked some relevant materials. </span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">There are a number of reasons to have a CoI policy - both simply because it’s an important aspect of board governance, but also because the IRS asks about the existence of, and process of, a CoI policy. But, again, the policy applies to the members of the Board in their role as a Trustee.</span></font></p><font size="2"></font><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The current policy was unanimously approved to replace a previous version of the policy from 2011; as I understand it, clarifications to the 2011 policy were needed. That’s the history that I know right now - but I would be very surprised if CoI policies have not been in place for most of ISOC’s existence, given IRS requirements for nonprofits. In the case of current discussion, there was some disagreement amongst Trustees as to how to interpret the current policy - that is not ideal. We can clarify based on learnings from those discussions. We wanted to draw the community's attention to this while we work out what clarifications to the policy might be needed.</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> * Why is there a focus on organisations that used to be, in the past,</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> referred to as the I-star organisations, organisations that were</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> viewed as friends, but now appear to be no longer? Why were more</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> "distant" organisations, like ITU, or the IEEE, or ACM not given as</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> an example?</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The examples in the CoI policy are only examples ("include, but are not limited to") - they are intended to be illustrative of the kinds of organizations that *may* be a conflict of interest. While the current CoI policy notes these are only examples, there may be a way to make that even more clear in the policy. I don’t know why those examples were chosen, but it’s likely because they were notable examples that many Trustees would be familiar with and thus able to use to think through potential conflicts of interest - you are correct that both are an important part of the wider Internet community that we work within, as are the other examples you note. </span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> * Why is there a mention of "individuals who are directly involved in</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> the policy development process of these organisations" instead of</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> referring to being in their leadership? There is no difference made</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> between being in the leadership of an organisation and contributing</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> benevolently to a working group.</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">As I understand it, the CoI policy is intended to ensure that Trustees can participate in any number of organizations or related activities - we want to be able to draw Trustees from a wide pool (of course, as elected by members of the community). However, if a Trustee is part of the direct policymaking or governance of multiple organizations, then that can create a conflict of interest - what if a decision would benefit one and be to the detriment of another? We don’t want to put the Board or our Trustees in that difficult position. As I understand it, advising other organizations is not a conflict of interest, but determining policy for an organization in the same areas of engagement as ISOC creates the potential for problems (regardless of whether they are formally on a leadership team for that organization). The CoI policy does also have other examples in the document - for instance, full members of the IAB or members of the IESG are excluded from being Trustees due to ISOC's relationship with the IETF. </span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> * Why is there an ill-conceived mention of "policy development"</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> relating to IGF? The Internet Governance Forum does not make any</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> policy, it is... a discussion forum - this sentence is embarrassing</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> for ISOC as it appears to point at ignorance of this basic point.</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This inclusion seems to create some confusion; I admit that I am less familiar with the workings of the IGF than some. But it has been noted that the MAG Chair appears to make policy for the IGF. In any case, the confusion on this point would seem to merit some clarification that participation in discussion forums are not conflicts as envisioned by the CoI policy (as I understand it).</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> * If deciding to open the can of worms, why not open it fully and also</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> include conflict of interests of individuals that work for large</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> corporations that are directly involved in Internet Governance -</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> corporations that could benefit from ISOC's "independent policy</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> views" advocacy on a National or International level? They get paid</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> by these corporations - surely that's a greater conflict of interest</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">> than the one of volunteers?</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">If they were in the "board or leadership" of the organizations you mention, they would also likely be covered by the first sentence of this section. Corporations generally do not have formal policy development bodies the way volunteer organizations do, so the sentence about the policy development bodies doesn't apply. Depending on the kind of organization, and the role within the organization, it is possible that someone might be deemed to have a conflict of interest. I don’t know if that has come up in the past.</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>The Conflict of Interest policy, as it currently stands, could prevent a</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>lot of very competent people from taking on positions on the ISOC Board</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>of Trustees.</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The intent of the CoI policy is to be as narrow as possible, while also ensuring that Trustees are making decisions in the best interest of ISOC. We agree that being overly restrictive of the activities of potential Trustees would be a mistake. But, again, it is important not to have a conflict between any Trustee’s position with ISOC and their formal role within another organization.</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>1. Have a policy that allows all Board members to declare their</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>interests publicly, for all to see, on a publicly accessible page, which</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>can be updated regularly.</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Trustees do declare their potential conflicts on a regular basis, using a standard form; as Chair of the Audit Committee, I collect and monitor them. This is another thing that the IRS asks about from a process perspective. There have been discussions about whether to post these publicly, there has not been agreement about whether this is always possible.</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>2. Have a policy that allow Board members to recuse themselves from</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>discussions where their other commitments pose a conflict of Interest</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>for this topic only. I understand that one or more members of the Board</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>did exactly this during the PIR discussions.</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">In most cases, the CoI policy calls for the recusal of a Trustee when a conflict arises. There is a very narrow set of circumstances wherein the conflict is structural in nature; in this case, the policy instead requires the person to choose between their role on the Board or within the other organization, as recusal would not adequately protect ISOC. The goal is to make these circumstances as rare as possible while remaining responsible, as Trustees, to ISOC.</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>3. Have a policy that allows the ISOC Board of Trustees to be</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>accountable to the ISOC Community, the channel for the Internet Society</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>to continue to excel in its Mission as listed in</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">></span><a href="https://www.internetsociety.org/mission/" style="text-decoration:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">https://www.internetsociety.org/mission/</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> - so the Internet Society does</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">>not risk being used as a lobbying tool for vested interests?</span></font></p><font size="2"><br></font><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I’m not sure what kind of formal accountability you envision here, but I think that, generally, what you’re talking about is outside the scope of the CoI policy discussed here. I will say that I certainly see my role as a Trustee as furthering the ISOC mission, and working within the Board to ensure that ISOC remains focused on that mission - so we share a goal in that.</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></font></p><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></font></p></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Nov 5, 2020 at 11:39 AM Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond <<a href="mailto:ocl@gih.com" target="_blank">ocl@gih.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>
Dear Heather,<br>
<br>
thank you for your kind message and thank you for raising the issue
of Conflict of Interest Policy with Chapters. This email is meant to
share my personal comments regarding the policy as it currently
stands and to question how this was established.<br>
<br>
First, how it was established. From your email, it appears that this
conflict of interest policy was adopted unanimously by the Board of
Trustees earlier this year - without any formal input from the very
people affected by the policy, that is the three communities from
which candidates on the Board of Trustees are drawn. Whilst I agree
that, in principle, a Conflict of Interest policy is needed in any
organisation, I wonder what was the trigger for this sudden waking
of the sleeping dragon after so many years where the matter had not
been addressed, and there did not appear to have been cause for
concern. Why were the relevant communities not consulted?<br>
<br>
Why do I call this a sleeping dragon? Because whilst I agree with
you that the "Independent Policy View" section needs further review,
it's a bit late to involve Chapters now that the section's already
been passed by the Board. Plus, it awakens all sorts of questions,
which I'll point out below.<br>
<br>
So let's see the two main paragraphs:<br>
<br>
<i><font color="#0000ff"><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif">Individuals in the board or the leadership
of organizations that operate in ISOC’s areas of </span><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif">eng</span><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif">agement
shall not serve as trustees, unless the engagement is on
behalf of or at the request of </span><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif">ISOC’s Board. <font color="#ff0000">Individuals who are directly involved in the
policy development process of these </font></span><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif"><font color="#ff0000">organizations</font> shall not serve as
Interested Parties. These organi</span><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif">zations include, but
are not limited to, </span><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif">ICANN (Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers) and the IGF (Internet </span><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif">Governance
Forum).<br>
<br>
</span><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif">Chapters</span><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif"><br>
<br>
Given ISOC’s relation with its chapters, members of the
leadership of an ISOC chapter, which </span><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif">include
th</span></font></i><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif"><i><font color="#0000ff">e chapter’s president
and treasurer, shall not serve as ISOC trustees</font></i><br>
<br>
I have a serious problem with the specific mentioning and
therefore targeting of ICANN and IGF. This is not only because I
am involved as a volunteer in these two organisations, but because
it unfairly targets the involvement of most of our Chapter members
in Internet Governance, whether at ICANN or IGF - and an
overwhelming majority of Chapter members are involved as
volunteers in these organisations. <b><br>
<br>
I would go further that their involvement in these organisations
create the very fabric that the multistakeholder model is built
on. Without this, there is no multistakeholder model. Is this
what the Internet Society wants?</b><br>
</span>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif">Why is
there a focus on organisations that used to be, in the past,
referred to as the I-star organisations, organisations that
were viewed as friends, but now appear to be no longer? Why
were more "distant" organisations, like ITU, or the IEEE, or
ACM not given as an example?<br>
</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif">Why is
there a mention of "individuals who are directly involved in
the policy development process of these organisations" instead
of referring to being in their leadership? There is no
difference made between being in the leadership of an
organisation and contributing benevolently to a working group.<br>
</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif">Why is
there an ill-conceived mention of "policy development"
relating to IGF? The Internet Governance Forum does not make
any policy, it is... a discussion forum - this sentence is
embarrassing for ISOC as it appears to point at ignorance of
this basic point.<br>
</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size:18.4px;font-family:sans-serif">If
deciding to open the can of worms, why not open it fully and
also include conflict of interests of individuals that <font color="#ff0000">work </font>for large corporations that are
directly involved in Internet Governance - corporations that
could benefit from ISOC's "independent policy views" advocacy
on a National or International level? They get paid by these
corporations - surely that's a greater conflict of interest
than the one of volunteers?<br>
</span></li>
</ul>
<p>The Conflict of Interest policy, as it currently stands, could
prevent a lot of very competent people from taking on positions on
the ISOC Board of Trustees. This blanket ban throws the baby out
with the bath water. Worse: it is discriminatory towards a
specific type of volunteer. Is this really what ISOC wants? <br>
</p>
<p>Instead of a policy that stops people from taking office
altogether, if there is a deep concern in the ISOC Board of
Trustees that conflicts of interest are a strong reality that
needs to be addressed, perhaps is it time to:</p>
<p>1. Have a policy that allows all Board members to declare their
interests publicly, for all to see, on a publicly accessible page,
which can be updated regularly.</p>
<p>2. Have a policy that allow Board members to recuse themselves
from discussions where their other commitments pose a conflict of
Interest for this topic only. I understand that one or more
members of the Board did exactly this during the PIR discussions.</p>
<p>3. Have a policy that allows the ISOC Board of Trustees to be
accountable to the ISOC Community, the channel for the Internet
Society to continue to excel in its Mission as listed in
<a href="https://www.internetsociety.org/mission/" target="_blank">https://www.internetsociety.org/mission/</a> - so the Internet
Society does not risk being used as a lobbying tool for vested
interests?<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>As I said, these are my personal views. I accept that I might be
out of line, but my interest here is to safeguard the Internet
multistakeholder model and when I see a friendly organisation
wandering towards fragmenting this vulnerable ecosystem into "us
against them" amongst its friends, I cannot keep my mouth shut.</p>
<p>Kindest regards,</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Olivier<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
<div>On 04/11/2020 01:35, Heather West via
Chapter-delegates wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div><br>
</div>
As Chair of the Internet Society Audit Committee, I wanted to
share an update with you.<br>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<br>
As you may know, the Audit Committee reviews the Conflict of
Interest forms filed by members of the Board of Trustees and
officers of the Internet Society to ensure that we are in
compliance with our Conflict of Interest (“CoI”) policy.<br>
<br>
The CoI policy states that members of the Board of Trustees
cannot hold a position in the policy development process in
another organization operating in the Internet Society’s
areas of engagement, and we are evaluating a situation where
this restriction may be relevant. One of our Trustees has
been appointed as a non-voting member to the GSNO Council,
the Generic Names Supporting Organization – a
policy-development body that develops and recommends
policies relating to generic top-level domains (gTLDs) to
the ICANN Board.<br>
<br>
The Internet Society has a long history of collaborating
with our diverse community from around the world, and is
committed to having vibrant and robust global engagement. We
work across countries and cultures and seek diverse
cross-organizational expertise. This makes us stronger—sound
practices and clear policies are a critical part of that.<br>
<br>
We recognize that the expertise of our trustees is also
valued by other groups. At the same time, our community is
best served when board members are able to maintain their
independence from other organizational interests that are in
the Internet Society’s areas of engagement.<br>
<br>
While our CoI policy was adopted unanimously by the Board of
Trustees earlier this year, the Board has determined that a
section addressing a conflict under the “Independent Policy
View” section needs further review. The Governance Committee
will evaluate this section with the goal of providing its
assessment and recommendations to the Board for further
discussion. We anticipate this work will be concluded by
the time of our next Board of Trustees meeting.<br>
<br>
Below is the link to our Conflict of Interest policy on the
Internet Society website.<span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<div><a href="https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/" target="_blank">https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/</a> <span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sincerely,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Heather West<br>
Audit Committee, Chair, Internet Society Board of Trustees</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">=========== Español =========== </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Como presidente del Comité de Auditoría
de Internet Society, quería compartir una actualización con
ustedes.<br>
<br>
Como saben, el Comité de Auditoría revisa los formularios de
Conflicto de Interés presentados por miembros de la Junta
Directiva y funcionarios de Internet Society para asegurarse
de que cumplimos con nuestra política de Conflicto de
Interés ("CoI").<br>
<br>
La política de CoI establece que los miembros de la Junta
Directiva no pueden ocupar un puesto en el proceso de
desarrollo de políticas en otra organización que opere en
las áreas de participación de Internet Society, y estamos
evaluando una situación en la que esta restricción puede ser
relevante. Un integrante de la Junta Directiva ha sido
designado como miembro sin derecho a voto del Consejo de
GSNO, la Organización de Apoyo para Nombres Genéricos, un
organismo de desarrollo de políticas que desarrolla
y recomienda políticas relacionadas con los dominios
genéricos de nivel superior (gTLD) a la Junta de ICANN.<br>
<br>
Internet Society tiene un largo historial de colaboración
con nuestra diversa comunidad de todo el mundo y está
comprometida a tener un compromiso global vibrante y sólido.
Trabajamos en distintos países y culturas y buscamos
diversos conocimientos especializados entre organizaciones.
Esto nos hace más fuertes: las prácticas sólidas y las
políticas claras son una parte fundamental de eso.<br>
<br>
Reconocemos que la experiencia de los integrantes de nuestra
Junta Directiva también es valorada por otros grupos. Al
mismo tiempo, se sirve mejor a nuestra comunidad cuando los
miembros de la Junta pueden mantener su independencia de
otros intereses organizacionales que se encuentran en las
áreas de participación de Internet Society.<br>
<br>
Si bien nuestra política de CoI fue adoptada por unanimidad
por la Junta Directiva a principios de este año, la Junta
ha determinado que una sección que aborda un conflicto en la
sección "Opinión de la política independiente" necesita más
revisión. El Comité de Gobierno evaluará esta sección con el
objetivo de proporcionar su evaluación y recomendaciones a
la Junta para su posterior discusión. Anticipamos que este
trabajo concluirá en el momento de nuestra próxima reunión
de la Junta Directiva.<br>
<br>
A continuación se muestra el enlace a nuestra política de
Conflicto de Interés en el sitio web de Internet Society.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/" target="_blank">https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sinceramente,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Heather West</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Presidente, Comité de Auditoría, Junta
Directiva de Internet Society </p>
<div><br>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal">=========== Français ===========</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">En tant que président du
comité d'audit de l'Internet Society, je voudrais vous
faire part d'une mise à jour.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR"><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Comme vous le savez
peut-être, le comité d'audit examine les formulaires de
conflit d'intérêt remplis par les membres du conseil
d'administration et les dirigeants de l'Internet Society
afin de s'assurer que nous sommes en conformité avec notre
politique, en matière de conflit d'intérêt ("CoI").</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR"><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">La politique en matière
de conflits d'intérêts stipule que les membres du conseil
d'administration ne peuvent pas occuper de poste dans le
processus d'élaboration des politiques d'une autre
organisation opérant dans les domaines d'engagement de
l'Internet Society, et nous évaluons actuellement une
situation dans laquelle cette restriction pourrait
s’avérer pertinente. L'un de nos administrateurs a été
nommé membre sans droit de vote du Conseil du GSNO, soit
l'Organisation de soutien des noms génériques - un organe
d'élaboration des politiques qui élabore et recommande au
conseil d'administration de l'ICANN des politiques
relatives aux domaines génériques de premier niveau
(gTLD).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR"><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">L'Internet Society
collabore depuis longtemps avec notre communauté
diversifiée du monde entier, et s'engage à avoir un
engagement mondial dynamique et solide. Nous travaillons à
travers les pays et les cultures et recherchons une
expertise transversale diversifiée. Cela nous permet
d'avoir des pratiques plus solides - et des politiques
claires sont un élément essentiel dans cette démarche.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR"><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Nous reconnaissons que
l'expertise de nos administrateurs est également appréciée
par d'autres groupes. En même temps, notre communauté est
mieux servie lorsque les membres du conseil
d'administration sont capables de maintenir leur
indépendance par rapport aux intérêts d’autres
organisations qui sont dans les domaines d'engagement de
l'Internet Society.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR"><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Bien que notre politique
de CoI ait été adoptée à l'unanimité par le conseil
d'administration au début de cette année, le conseil a
déterminé qu'une section traitant d'un conflit dans la
section "Independent Policy View" doit faire l'objet d'un
examen plus approfondi. Le comité de gouvernance évaluera
cette section dans le but de fournir son évaluation et ses
recommandations au conseil d'administration pour une
discussion plus approfondie. Nous prévoyons que ce travail
sera terminé d'ici la prochaine réunion du conseil
d'administration.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR"><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Vous trouverez ci-dessous
le lien vers notre politique en matière de conflits
d'intérêts sur le site web de l'Internet Society.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/" target="_blank">https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif" lang="FR">Sincèrement,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif" lang="FR">Heather West</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif" lang="FR">Président du comité d'audit, du conseil
d'administration de l'Internet Society</span></p>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset></fieldset>
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</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
</div>
</blockquote></div>